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When Life Gives You Lemons…: Have a car show, and if that dissolves, have a Tour

August 12, 2012

Mindy Kindelberger's 1970 Subaru 360 has been chosen as Hagerty''s "America's Sweetest Lemon" and will run in the Tour D'LeMons. Photo by Hagerty

There was a dark, scary point at which it looked like there would be no Concours De LeMons this year. We shudder at the memory. But it actually almost happened.

“We kind of weren't gonna do anything this year,” said Concours d'LeMons founder and chief class judge Alan Galbraith who, for the last three glorious years, has organized the LeMons as a tribute to poor taste and bad design in the car world. “It (the cancellation) was kind of a hard decision to make. We played the joke, it had run its course. We tried to promote it, to draw in new people other than the core group of 'enthusiasts,' and we weren't seeing a whole lot of growth to it.”

You remember Concours d'LeMons, right? It was set up as a sort of anti-Pebble. Whereas the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was and is a celebration of the most beautiful cars ever made, Galbraith's Concours d'LeMons was the anti-venom, the yang, the evil twin with bad taste and spotty maintenance. Held in public parks around the peninsula and catered by taco trucks, it was the last (and only) place you could show off your Pinto, Bobcat, Gremlin or Pacer and feel a sense of pride, maybe even win an award. But it looked like Galbraith, who organizes seven real hot rod shows each year under the Billetproof banner wasn't going to be able to pull it off this year.

“I told (event sponsor) Hagerty, but they just refused to let it die. They said, 'You don't understand, we have people who look forward to it all year.”

So…

“We decided to take over, at least for this year,” said Eric DeBoer of Hagerty (“The Classic and Collector Car Insurance Specialists”).

Hagerty had sponsored both the show itself and the coveted Worst of Show award at LeMons and last year even set up a stand on the Concours lawn serving – appropriately - lemonade. Hagerty also promoted its own LeMons award called “The Search For America's Sweetest Lemon,” with the winner receiving an all-expenses-paid trip for them and their car to the Concours d'LeMons. So Hagerty had to keep the thing going.

And Hagerty did, except that this year there will be a new (lemon) twist. Instead of just a static display of wheeled misfortune, when the ugliness lines up at 10:00 a.m. Saturday Morning, August 18 in Laguna Grande Park in Seaside, Calif., the cars will actually drive, to the extent any of them can start and engage a gear, in the all-new “Tour of Lemons.”

The rolling refuse will congeal at the same location as last year, 1249 Canyon del Rey Blvd. in Seaside and depart promptly (or not) at 10:00. The route will circumnavigate the beautiful Monterey Peninsula, sticking mostly to scenic roads like 17-Mile Drive to the extent that the locals can stand viewing the parade of poor taste, and return to Laguna Grande Park, where the cars still running will be displayed on the lawn… just like Pebble. That will be at about 12:00. So if you can't get out of bed before noon, you can still see one of the best – or worst, depending on your perspective – cars shows of the weekend.

“The price is right, free,” said Galbraith. “That rang true to a lot of people.”

Those who registered and entered a car will get a free lunch, too. Maybe even from a fancy catering truck. The draw of a free lunch was apparently overwhelming. Hagerty says that The Tour is way oversold. So while you are welcome to come and watch, further registrations are now closed. Don't sign up! But do come and watch. See you Saturday.